1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to the field of computer systems and, more specifically to a data processing system, method, and product for pre-encrypting static information transmitted by secure Web sites.
2. Description of Related Art
The Internet, also referred to as an “internetwork”, is a set of computer networks, possibly dissimilar, joined together by means of gateways that handle data transfer and the conversion of messages from the sending network to the protocols used by the receiving network (with packets if necessary). When capitalized, the term “Internet” refers to the collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols.
The Internet has become a cultural fixture as a source of both information and entertainment. Many businesses are creating Internet sites as an integral part of their marketing efforts, informing consumers of the products or services offered by the business or providing other information seeking to engender brand loyalty. Many federal, state, and local government agencies are also employing Internet sites for informational purposes, particularly agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service and secretaries of state, which must interact with virtually all segments of society. Providing informational guides and/or searchable databases of online public records may reduce operating costs. Further, the Internet is becoming increasingly popular as a medium for commercial transactions.
The Internet includes the World Wide Web. Web-based applications, executed by server computer systems, may be accessed by client computer systems. In order to access a Web-based application, a user first must establish an Internet connection. The user may then specify a URL (uniform resource locator) of a particular Web page. A Web page includes an HTML file and associated files for displaying images, such as graphics images.
Each Web page may contain text, graphics, images, sound, multimedia files, links to other Web pages, and any other type of electronic information. The server computer system does not typically store all of the components of a Web page in one single file. Instead, the server stores code in the HTML file which can be used by a client's Web browser in order to build the page. The server, thus, stores references to enable the browser to find the files that are needed to display the various text and images which then make up the Web page.
Many Internet Web sites encrypt the data transmitted between the site's server computer system and the user's client computer system, and, therefore, are considered to be “secure” sites. The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a commonly-used protocol that describes the security used to transmit data from a secure site via the Internet. The SSL protocol includes a record layer which is responsible for encrypting and transmitting data.
Secure sites encrypt all data transferred to the client computer systems. Therefore, when a client's browser requests a particular page, all of the information needed to create the page is encrypted and then transmitted to the client's browser. All of the information is encrypted each time it is requested.
Encrypting all of the data each time a Web page is requested is often unnecessary. The percentage of the Web page including information that should be encrypted may be small. Many Web pages include various marketing information and logos that are not unique to any particular page, are not security sensitive, and do not change frequently. For example, company logo images do not often change.
The known systems described above encrypt the non-sensitive and static data along with the security sensitive data each time the information is transmitted to a client. This is unnecessary and can be very time-consuming.
Therefore, a need exists for a method, system, and product whereby a secure Web site stored pre-encrypted static information. The Web site then encrypts dynamically-changing information in response to each request, and bypasses the encryption step for the static information that has been pre-encrypted.